Please help anxiety breaking thru benzos n antidepressants

Posted , 7 users are following.

Hey im on lexapro 15mgs for about 10 weeks now.. n klonopin .5mgs at night and 1 MG in the morning.. I still wake up shaking inside.. my doctor seems to think it's behavorial.. but I wake up like this i don't have time to think.. it's so uncomfortable to be shaking out of ur skin..he's also weaning me off the klonopin.. .5mgs every 2weeks i go down.. im also going thru a divorce my life has turned up side down.. I just Wanna be calm already.. I have been struggling all year with trying antidepressants that i can handle.. this was the only one i could handle meaning the side effects.. im so sick of this anxiety i don't know what else to do.. ive done dbt, cbt all that good stuff.. meditation ive got no clue what to do anymore.. someone please help

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  • Posted

    When I went through my divorce I was prescribed Paxil and Xanax. It seemed to work well but time has a lot to do with it too. I still have moments of panic and depression regarding that situation. I don't know about your meds but I hope that you feel better soon!

    B

  • Posted

    I completely understand what you're going thru ...

    I thought I was the only person on the planet that woke up due to anxiety !!! I would Literally wake up with a warm sensation starting at my Head and moving to my feet while the anxiety peaked.

    I went thru cbt, saw my therapist weekly, joined support

    Groups etc. Finally after months of trying different

    Anti-anxiety meds we found one that worked. I was also on klonopin as needed.

    I wish I had the perfect solution for you but unfortunately I don't... I can only tell you it will get better, you may have to

    Change medications another time or two but eventually

    You'll find one that works for you and you can tolerate.

    Your doctor saying its behavior ? I've never been told

    That ... In my opinion he's suggesting you can control

    It and of course you can't ... No person on this earth

    Would "choose" to have anxiety !! You may want to

    Consider finding a new Doctor. Is he a psychiatrist?

    I truly hope you're feeling better soon !

    • Posted

      Yeah he's a psychrist.. he thinks im over thinking everything n I need to keep myself busy to stop it. But isn't that what anxiety is?

    • Posted

      Exactly.... That's our problem ( ppl w/ anxiety) we tend to over think everything which leads to

      Anxiety.

      Do you think the shaking is a side effect of Lexapro?

    • Posted

      No ive been on it for 10 weeks.. I was going thru a hard time with this anxiety.. n then i was even stable and my husband sprunget divorce on me.. I don't know what is happening..

  • Posted

    Hi Renee,

    Would you be able to tell us which drugs did you try before? Prior to Lexapro?

    • Posted

      Prozac, effexor, paxil, xanax i got rebound anxiety from that
    • Posted

      Right, well - if paxil didn't work, I think SSRI/SNRIs are not likely to work in your case. You also mentioned in a post below that you're on zyprexa - 5 mg/ day - is there any particular reason for taking this drug? Have you ever experienced any psychotic episode or mania?

      I have to admit that I'm a little surprised as neurolepics are rarely prescribed for anxiety disorders due to the fact that the potential risks (e.g. serious weight gain) outweight the benefits. Benzodiazepines are not an ideal choice either as (a) they are habit-forming and (b) the withdrawal may be... well... difficult.

      A potential solution - worth discussing with your psychiatrist - would be to try one of the older antidepressants called 'tricyclics'. They are not as selective as SSRIs, but that's not a bad thing - all it means is that they interact with a greater number of receptors and therefore may produce a therapeutic effect in patients that did not respond to SSRI (patients whose condition results from something else than pure serotonine imbalance). Doctors do not feel comfortable when using these medications as the first line of treatement as - in contrast to SSRIs - their overdose may be lethal (and you can never trust a depressed patient...), but I think in your case it would be worth to try them. Drugs belonging to this class that have a strong anti-anxiety profile are clomipramine, amitriptyline and (to some extent) doxepin.

      Anyway, I hope you get better soon!

    • Posted

      He added the zyprexa for the sedating effect bc the klonopin wasn't working..it's a short term thing he said until he can get to the root cause of my anxiety..

    • Posted

      Renee, I will be brutal and honest here - did the doctor explained to you the risks associated with taking Zyprexa? This drug is excellent when it comes to managing an acute psychosis - it turns agitated, hallucinating and dellusional patients into calm, fat zombies. Nurses on the psychiatric wards love it - zombies are easy to manage - they don't ask questions and certainly don't have the energy to do stupid things. While there are situations when Zyprexa is very helpful (like putting an end to a psychotic episode), you need to ask yourself a question whether you really need to take such a potent drug. If you're not psychotic, you should attempt to find a solution to your anxiety - look for other drugs that can help you. Tricyclic antidepressants are one option, MAO inhibitors are the second option and beta-blockers are the third option. I would try antipsychotics only if all of these three classes of drugs were not effective. Try to discuss this further with your psychiatrist and if he/she insists on taking Zyprexa and Clonazepam, maybe ask someone else for a second opinion?

  • Posted

    I forgot im also on zyprexa 2.5mgs 2x s day as well for calling effects.. I take the one in the morning as needed
  • Posted

    My anxiety is at its worse in the mornings. I wake up and keep a constant shaky feeling in my body all day. Although I want to just lay in my bed all day and there has been days Ive done just that. But Im a newly single mother of two kids for I went through a divorce after being with the same person for 22 yrs. Im only 37. But got anxiety when I was 29yrs old. So been dealing with it for several years and there was a period of a good 3 yrs where it was just a thought in the back of my head. But its back with a vengeance. Im physically sick. Cant eat etc. Several stomach issues. But I do feel better if I force myself to get out and its HARD. Im currently looking for somthing natural. Im hear to talk if that helps you bc it helps me.
    • Posted

      Im 35 n have been with my ex for 10 years.. ive never lived on my own.. I always have a fear of being alone which fuels it.. n now I am alone with my 7 year old son. The doctor teles me to keep busy.. n I try but im mentally exhausted from fighting the anxiety all day.. anxiety is very debaliting when it gets to a certain level. I don't wanna do anything, see anyone. It's horrible.. n im depressed on top of this all from the divorce. We have been separated for a good 6 weeks now.. n I hate every minute of it.. I just want my life back

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